1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to configuration of printer alert processing and in particular to specification of alert notifications for printer alert conditions. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to designating different electronic mail addresses to be utilized for different alert notifications by a number of printers.
2. Description of the Related Art
A data processing system network for an enterprise will typically include a number of printers and other output devices. Printer administrators for the enterprise are generally responsible for responding to problems with printers, such as low toner or paper jams. Printer management software reports these problems by various mechanisms, such as color change or other alteration of the printer icon, audible cues, or generation of messages.
For an enterprise with a large number of printers, specification of alert processing is complicated by two factors: First, configuration of printers for alert processing generally must be done manually, which may be time-consuming. Second, in many cases the individual who responds to one type of alert for a printer may be different from the individual who responds to other types of alerts. Therefore, not only does alert processing need to be specified individually for each printer, but alert notifications for different types of error or alert conditions also need to be specified individually at each printer.
It would be desirable, therefore, to improve the efficiency of specifying or changing alert notifications for printers within an enterprise. Furthermore, it would also be advantageous to improve the efficiency of specifying the targets for specific alert notifications across multiple printers within an enterprise.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide improved configuration of printer alert processing.
It is another object of the present invention to provide improved specification of alert notifications for printer alert conditions.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for designating different electronic mail addresses to be utilized for different alert notifications by a number of printers.
The foregoing objects are achieved as is now described. A user interface is provided to receive electronic mail addresses for printer alert notification recipients. The alert notifications to be received by each individual recipient are designated based on the underlying alert condition prompting the alert. Once all desired recipients and corresponding alert notifications have been specified, this alert notification configuration is implemented for one or more printers within a group of monitored printers.
The above as well as additional objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.